Leisel
A feminine given name derived from the Germanic words for "success" and "freedom".
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the first name Leisel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leisel today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leisel births was 2015 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leisel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
130
~ 1 in 2,636,572 Americans
Peak year
2015
11 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,559
Tracked since 1966
Popularity
Leisel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leisel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 44 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leisel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leisel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Leisel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leisel
The given name Leisel has its origins in the Germanic languages, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a variant spelling of the name Lisel, which is a diminutive form of the German name Elisabeth, derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva. Elisheva means "God is my oath" or "consecrated to God."
In the Middle Ages, the name Lisel was commonly used in German-speaking regions of Europe, particularly in areas that are now part of modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It gained popularity as a diminutive form of Elisabeth, which was a common name among Christians, particularly after the widespread veneration of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in the 13th century.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Lisel or its variants can be found in medieval German records and documents. However, specific examples of the spelling "Leisel" are relatively rare in historical records, as it was more commonly spelled as Lisel or Liesel.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Leisel was Leisel von Anhalt-Dessau (1550-1586), a German noblewoman from the House of Ascania. Another historical figure was Leisel Trapp (1605-1677), a German Benedictine abbess who served as the Princess-Abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zurich, Switzerland.
In literature, the name Leisel gained widespread recognition through the character of Leisel Meminger in the novel "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, published in 2005. The book, set in Nazi Germany during World War II, features Leisel as the protagonist, a young girl who develops a love for books and storytelling.
Other notable individuals with the name Leisel throughout history include:
1. Leisel Metzler (1902-1991), a German-American artist and painter known for her landscape paintings and portraits.
2. Leisel Hausman (1924-2018), a German-American artist and sculptor, recognized for her abstract metal sculptures and public art installations.
3. Leisel Stover (1932-2020), an American novelist and short story writer, best known for her novel "The Bitter Roots."
4. Leisel Jones (born 1985), an Australian former competitive swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist.
5. Leisel Vignapiano (born 1986), an American professional tennis player who competed on the WTA Tour.
While the name Leisel has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Leisel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leisel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Leisel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leisel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leisel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,636,572 US residents.
Is Leisel a common name?
We classify Leisel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leisel most popular?
The single biggest year for Leisel was 2015, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leisel is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leisel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leisel in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.